April 29, 2024, Toronto City News: Mother of autistic child fears he will unintentionally kill her
Stephanie Serenko’s 8 year old son is 180 pounds, the child has autism and she struggles to survive his violent outbursts. The family is pleading for the Ford government to help.
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Reporter: They live in constant fear of being attacked in their own home, and they are desperate.
This is the story of a family struggling to cope with a child who has autism. They love him, but they are terrified for him and for each other.
Stephanie Serenko: It’s a struggle every day just to make it through the day and to make him get through the day.
Reporter: Her son Mason is eight years old and weighs 180 pounds.
She is a single mother and lives with her parents. When her father goes to work, she and her mother try to survive the day.
She believes one day, he will unintentionally kill her.
Stephanie: Yeah, I think he will. It’s dangerous to be with him alone. It’s hard. It’s really hard.
Reporter: Stephanie has had her nose broken twice and chunks of her hair pulled out.
Her mother has also been injured.
Grandmother: I got a black eye from him. I’ve had broken ribs. Six months ago, he got me on the side and broke my ribs.
Stephanie: Ducking and dodging, worrying about him hitting, pinching biting, breaking things. It’s just endless.
Reporter: We are told this is an easy day. A five out of ten.
The signs of outbursts on harder days are everywhere, the car, the couch, the cabinet doors,
Grandmother: He’s broken the stove, and it’s not just crack. It’s a hole, complete, shattered with his head.
Reporter: Mason was diagnosed at two and was on the Ontario autism program waitlist for five years. He only started receiving funding for therapy this year.
Grandmother: There’s no money.
Reporter: They don’t have money. Therapy can cost $100,000 a year. Stephanie and her mother can’t work because they both have to stay home with Mason and protect each other.
Mason does go to school, but only for part of the day.
Stephanie: The staff has to wear protective gear because he has sent a few staff to hospital.
Reporter: Stephanie says she’s hit a roadblock. There are either no resources or there are long waitlists. She needs help and none is available.
She believes Mason needs to be in a group home, but he’s too young.
One day she was so desperate, she called the Children’s Aid Society.
Stephanie: Because we didn’t know what else to do. It’s the first time they’ve ever had an experience like that where someone’s called in on themselves really.
Reporter: This is what a family in crisis looks like. They are shattered.
Grandfather: It’s hell, every day, every minute. It just sucks.
Stephanie: I cry every time I think about it because it’s hard. It’s really hard being diagnosed with depression and anxiety and PTSD.
Reporter: And yet this is who they belive Mason truly is, a beautiful boy at heart.
Grandmother: Oh I love him more than anything in the world. I worry about him, I worry about my daughter, her mental state and trying to do this. It’s hard. It’s really hard.
Reporter: It is not easy for any family to be that vulnerable and show the world their situation. It indicates how desperate they are.
They do get respite care, five hours once a week, but every 14 weeks, it runs out, and they have to reapply and lost a few weeks in the process.
They are calling on the Ford government for help, not just for them, but for other families in crisis as well.
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